A Clark County School District police officer keeps groups separate as they cheer Friday for their candidates outside the studios of KLVX-TV, Channel 10. More than 100 people gathered in front of the station while the gubernatorial candidates debated inside. Photo by K.M. Cannon. The Republican candidates for governor get set for the start of the debate Friday night. They are, from left, state Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt and U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev. Photo by John Locher.

The Republican gubernatorial candidates threw "liberal Democrat" labels at each other like epithets and wrapped the theme of lower taxes around themselves like fire blankets, as they squared off Friday in the first debate to include all three major GOP candidates for governor.

State Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, and Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt tried to derail front-runner Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., from his lead in the polls.

The debate, sponsored by the Review-Journal and KLVX-TV, Channel 10, was the first time Gibbons had agreed to face his opponents. And if Gibbons' handlers had worried about -- and his opponents had hoped for -- a major verbal gaffe, there wasn't any.

But he did take shots from Hunt and Beers.

Under the debate's format, Review-Journal political reporter Molly Ball and Erin Breen of Reno's KNPB-TV each asked the candidates two questions, moderator Mitch Fox asked questions from Review-Journal readers, and then the candidates got to ask each other questions.

Beers used his question for Hunt to serve up a softball, asking her to respond to a "cease and desist letter" Gibbons attorney sent to her after she aired TV ads accusing the congressman of flip-flopping on abortion and gay marriage.

"The charges are not charges; they're facts," Hunt said. "We've substantiated those facts. ... Gibbons flip-flops on issues. When it's politically expedient, he's on one side. ... He flip-flopped like John Kerry, he plagiarized like Joe Biden."

A portion of a speech the Democratic senator from Delaware gave in 1988 was the same as a British politician's. Gibbons gave a speech in 2005 that mirrored another politician's.

When Fox asked for Beers' response to Hunt's comments, he said, "I have no response to that."

Gibbons though, fought back. He accused Beers of voting for record budgets and to give himself a pay raise.

"You're just like every other politician you're complaining about," he said. "It doesn't make sense to me. You voted for more spending than even liberal Democrat Dina Titus."

Perhaps signaling that Gibbons is laying the groundwork for what could be a general election showdown with Titus, he mentioned the Democratic candidate no fewer than three times, each of which was preceded by "liberal Democrat."

The only missteps of the debate came from Hunt and Beers.

As Hunt was talking about taxes, she referred to a "state income tax." She appeared flustered as she backtracked to clarify that no state income tax exists in Nevada, and she said she certainly would not support one.

Beers at one point broke off from a response to a question to ask what a cameraman in the studio was pointing at. He told Fox to have the cameraman stop pointing.

In their opening remarks, the candidates stuck to their core campaign themes.

It took Beers all of two sentences to bring up his Tax and Spending Control initiative, which would limit the growth of government. Beers criticized Gibbons for not explaining his opposition to the initiative during the debate.

Hunt brought up her track record as lieutenant governor and what she referred to as the administration over the past eight years.

"I want to continue the path of prosperity I helped to create," she said. "Now is not the time to turn over the reins to someone who'll have to learn on the job or someone from Washington, with a spend-at-will mind-set."

That jab at Gibbons caught his attention, and he looked over at her.

Gibbons brought up his service as an Air Force pilot in Desert Storm, his roots in Sparks and his "16 years of elected service."

Fox, the moderator, said an overwhelming number of questions submitted to the Review-Journal had to do with illegal immigration.

Beers said he would move to make all official documents, including driver's license applications, English-only. He said he would make citizenship a requirement to get social services and would make schools teach in English only to immigrant children.

Hunt said she would seek to block illegal immigrants from getting social services, such as the Millennium Scholarship and in-state tuition.

Gibbons said the country needs more secure borders, and said he voted for tough border enforcement.

Beers said he supports deconsolidating the Clark County School District.

Hunt pointed to recent improvements under the No Child Left Behind law and said she does not support deconsolidation.

Gibbons did not give his opinion on deconsolidation.

When the candidates were questioned about raising the minimum wage, Gibbons said, "This is something I'm very compassionate about. At $5.15 an hour, I don't think you can survive in today's economy."

He said that research shows that "welfare rolls are reduced when you give people higher-paying jobs."

Hunt said that she has talked to small businesses, "and they're telling me, giving someone an extra $1 an hour ... won't get them out of poverty. They say, 'Get me catastrophic health insurance.' "

Beers said he does not support the state ballot proposal on minimum wage because of exemptions it would give union employers.